This weekend’s NFL Draft is the 73rd for the league, and the ninth for Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli with the New England Patriots. Since Belichick and Pioli took over the team in 2000, the Patriots have selected 70 players in the draft, at every position except punter. Yet there are some spots on the field that the duo clearly places a higher importance on than others, and they choose accordingly. Over the next few days, we’ll look at New England’s history of picks under Belichick and Pioli, with an emphasis on where they rank in positional importance and how they’ve worked out.

Today, we look at linebackers and the secondary.

•LINEBACKERS

(Player, year drafted, round chosen, overall selection)

Casey Tisdale, 2000, 7th, 226; T.J. Turner, 2001, 7th, 239; Tully Banta-Cain, 2003, 7th, 239; Ryan Claridge, 2005, 5th, 170; Jeremy Mincey, 2006, 6th, 191; Justin Rogers, 2007, 6th, 180; Oscar Lua, 2007, 7th, 211

Still on the roster: none.

Priority: low.

It’s not that Belichick and Pioli don’t value this position — Belichick likely spends more time with the linebackers than any other group of players — it’s just that young players have a more difficult time picking up what’s asked of them in the Pats’ scheme. New England has instead signed older, wiser veterans to play linebacker, and young linebackers who stick around generally see most of their time on special teams.

Look at that list of players — none was selected higher than the fifth round, and none is still with the team.

Banta-Cain was converted from defensive end to outside backer and parlayed a reserve role into a big free-agent contract with San Francisco last year, a deal that the 49ers are apparently regretting already.

The six players not named Banta-Cain that the Patriots have drafted at linebacker played a combined two games.

•DEFENSIVE BACKS

Antwan Harris, 2000, 6th, 187; Brock Williams, 2001, 3rd, 86; Hakim Akbar, 2001, 5th, 163; Leonard Myers, 2001, 6th, 200; Eugene Wilson, 2003, 2nd, 36; Asante Samuel, 2003, 4th, 120; Guss Scott, 2004, 3rd, 95; Dexter Reid, 2004, 4th, 113; Christian Morton, 2004, 7th, 233; Ellis Hobbs, 2005, 3rd, 84; James Sanders, 2005, 4th, 133; Willie Andrews, 2006, 7th, 229; Brandon Meriweather, 2007, 1st, 24; Mike Richardson, 2007, 6th, 202

Still on the roster: Hobbs, Sanders, Andrews, Meriweather, Richardson.

Priority: medium.

In terms of where they’ve chosen players for the secondary, the Patriots looked to every round, though most have been taken in the middle rounds.

Samuel was the most successful of the bunch. After two standout seasons (and a combined 16 interceptions) in 2006 and ’07, he hit free agency paydirt with the Eagles on Feb. 29. Wilson’s path with New England was the opposite of Samuel’s — he started strong and finished weakly, and signed with Tampa Bay last month.

Hobbs and Sanders became full-time starters last season, while Andrews is a key special-teams player. Meriweather stepped ahead of Wilson on the depth chart by the end of last season, though better hands could have made him a postseason hero. Richardson spent his rookie season on injured reserve.

Scott was hampered by injuries and played in only six games over three years. Reid played in 13 games as a rookie but was released the next year. Harris played in over 50 games as a reserve. Myers played in his rookie year but then fizzled.

smanza@projo.com